Carguy2Banker
Well-known member
*Long read*
Opening day can always create some challenges, and today was no different. Warm weather, wind blowing 20+ mph begining before sunrise, lots of standing/unharvested crops, etc.
This morning our group of 7.5 men (1 full-time blocker that has a gun and license, but doesn't use it need, so he gets 1/2 value because the tailgate rides back so save steps and time allowing more time in the field) started out hunt with a plan at 8:15am. This plan was quickly altered because the property next to it was being hunted by some early birds and sharing a trail road seemed to be disrespectful since we have plenty of other locations we could go.
Due to limited access because of crop rotations, the first pass had to be hunted by walking with the wind without a blocker. Saw several birds, only one presented a shot which didn't connect, and everything else could be seen running out in front of us in a wheat field. The reward was in the return pass. It into the wind and this provided 4 roosters sightings which 3 ended up in the bag with 3 shots, 3 perfect retrieves. A good start, and great stretch of the legs for man and our 1 dog.
We hunted the rest of the morning in ideal hunting spots that had a few hens, but should have had many more birds, including the colorful ones.... 1 and .5 (blocker)hunting party members and left us around 10:30 to do other things.
We took a lunch break from 12:30-1:45, and after lots of convincing to continue marching in the afternoon, we headed out again. We walked a large tree row that was on the way to a bigger area. It was just too tempting to just drive by wondering what may be utilizing it's natural windbreak. 4 out of the 5 of us covered either side and the 1 with the least amount of faith in the potential that this tree row offered, took the "tailgate" to the end. A nice flush of 5 hens gave us hope early into the navigating of tall weeds and downed trees limbs. A few steps later, 2 roosters and 2 hens flushed and resulted in 1 bagged roster. At the end of the trees was a large covey of quail. Something that is a rarity in my area. This heart raising flush resulted in 5 missed shots between 2 different shooters. 6-8 of these quail landed a short distance away, so we included the 5th member of the group to attempt a retry on these birds. Another rise resulted in another 5 or 6 misses of the quail that flushed and flew directly at us, using the wind for additional speed and agility. Humbled, we moved on without further pursuit.
The next spot provided more opportunity for exercise, but .5 returned and joined after getting his second wind. We did get 2 birds, both roosters, to present shooting opportunities, and after a flurry of shooting, one of these proved to be fatal. We now possess 5 birds between our 5 "full-time" hunters/walkers. We have now walked roughly 6 miles each. At around 3:20 and 2 of the hunt party took "their" 3 birds to start their journey home, leaving 3.5 guys with 2 birds and roughly 2 hours of hunting left in the day. After a short discussions, we literally, only drove 1/2 mile south to walk a corner of heavy cover in the same field. The 3 remaining walkers take off because we have nothing else to do, waive back as the other 2 honked and waived at us "diehards". Before they have even made it out of sight a nice flush of 4 hens and 1 rooster come up startling us, resulting in 4 missed shots at the lone roster. Ugh! We kept walking the heavy cover that after about 1/4 mile would lead us back to the road. Around 20 years from the end, 3 roosters flush and miraculously, all 3 feel after a volley of 5 or 6 shots. All recovered!
Rejuvenated, now with 5 birds in the bag, we decide we should go to a small ambush type spot several miles away that has historically been good for us. Due to the limited birds seen all day, nobody even thought about refilling our pockets with ammo after the recent shooting. Again, we split up and 2 guys walked in while 1 and .5 went to pick us up at the opposite end. Half way through, 2 roosters get up, and after 4 nearly simultaneously fired shots 2 roosters fall. We are feeling good! I'm thinking to myself "7 birds, 3.5 guys and feeling less like this was an unsuccessful day". Suddenly, the sky fills with birds. I turn and shoot at one going to my left 3 times. He was using the wind to gain speed and altitude quickly and the 3rd shot finally connects. I then turned and shot one going to my right with 1 shot. Now, my gun is empty and open. I reached into my pocket and only had 1 shell remaining. The guy next to me shoots 3 times and has 2 bird down, but said he's now completely out of shells. As we stood there contemplating our issue, birds continue to flush in front of us, and some of these are in range of and 1 and .5. lots of shots later they have 3 birds down (.5 got out in time to fire 3 times and connecting on 1 flying over his pickup, so he was excited too). We recovered them all and now have 14 birds between us and it is ~4:00. After discussion, and knowing .5 only shot the1 bird we day, we ended our day knowing some or all of our individual limits had been exceeded and none our us know the party bag limit under this exact scenario. (This has never happened to any of us before, as typically everyone is walking and actively hunting). Besides the guilt of knowing we were clearly our individual daily bag limit, it turned out to be a great start to the season!
Hopefully others had great days also! There are lots of birds this year.
Opening day can always create some challenges, and today was no different. Warm weather, wind blowing 20+ mph begining before sunrise, lots of standing/unharvested crops, etc.
This morning our group of 7.5 men (1 full-time blocker that has a gun and license, but doesn't use it need, so he gets 1/2 value because the tailgate rides back so save steps and time allowing more time in the field) started out hunt with a plan at 8:15am. This plan was quickly altered because the property next to it was being hunted by some early birds and sharing a trail road seemed to be disrespectful since we have plenty of other locations we could go.
Due to limited access because of crop rotations, the first pass had to be hunted by walking with the wind without a blocker. Saw several birds, only one presented a shot which didn't connect, and everything else could be seen running out in front of us in a wheat field. The reward was in the return pass. It into the wind and this provided 4 roosters sightings which 3 ended up in the bag with 3 shots, 3 perfect retrieves. A good start, and great stretch of the legs for man and our 1 dog.
We hunted the rest of the morning in ideal hunting spots that had a few hens, but should have had many more birds, including the colorful ones.... 1 and .5 (blocker)hunting party members and left us around 10:30 to do other things.
We took a lunch break from 12:30-1:45, and after lots of convincing to continue marching in the afternoon, we headed out again. We walked a large tree row that was on the way to a bigger area. It was just too tempting to just drive by wondering what may be utilizing it's natural windbreak. 4 out of the 5 of us covered either side and the 1 with the least amount of faith in the potential that this tree row offered, took the "tailgate" to the end. A nice flush of 5 hens gave us hope early into the navigating of tall weeds and downed trees limbs. A few steps later, 2 roosters and 2 hens flushed and resulted in 1 bagged roster. At the end of the trees was a large covey of quail. Something that is a rarity in my area. This heart raising flush resulted in 5 missed shots between 2 different shooters. 6-8 of these quail landed a short distance away, so we included the 5th member of the group to attempt a retry on these birds. Another rise resulted in another 5 or 6 misses of the quail that flushed and flew directly at us, using the wind for additional speed and agility. Humbled, we moved on without further pursuit.
The next spot provided more opportunity for exercise, but .5 returned and joined after getting his second wind. We did get 2 birds, both roosters, to present shooting opportunities, and after a flurry of shooting, one of these proved to be fatal. We now possess 5 birds between our 5 "full-time" hunters/walkers. We have now walked roughly 6 miles each. At around 3:20 and 2 of the hunt party took "their" 3 birds to start their journey home, leaving 3.5 guys with 2 birds and roughly 2 hours of hunting left in the day. After a short discussions, we literally, only drove 1/2 mile south to walk a corner of heavy cover in the same field. The 3 remaining walkers take off because we have nothing else to do, waive back as the other 2 honked and waived at us "diehards". Before they have even made it out of sight a nice flush of 4 hens and 1 rooster come up startling us, resulting in 4 missed shots at the lone roster. Ugh! We kept walking the heavy cover that after about 1/4 mile would lead us back to the road. Around 20 years from the end, 3 roosters flush and miraculously, all 3 feel after a volley of 5 or 6 shots. All recovered!
Rejuvenated, now with 5 birds in the bag, we decide we should go to a small ambush type spot several miles away that has historically been good for us. Due to the limited birds seen all day, nobody even thought about refilling our pockets with ammo after the recent shooting. Again, we split up and 2 guys walked in while 1 and .5 went to pick us up at the opposite end. Half way through, 2 roosters get up, and after 4 nearly simultaneously fired shots 2 roosters fall. We are feeling good! I'm thinking to myself "7 birds, 3.5 guys and feeling less like this was an unsuccessful day". Suddenly, the sky fills with birds. I turn and shoot at one going to my left 3 times. He was using the wind to gain speed and altitude quickly and the 3rd shot finally connects. I then turned and shot one going to my right with 1 shot. Now, my gun is empty and open. I reached into my pocket and only had 1 shell remaining. The guy next to me shoots 3 times and has 2 bird down, but said he's now completely out of shells. As we stood there contemplating our issue, birds continue to flush in front of us, and some of these are in range of and 1 and .5. lots of shots later they have 3 birds down (.5 got out in time to fire 3 times and connecting on 1 flying over his pickup, so he was excited too). We recovered them all and now have 14 birds between us and it is ~4:00. After discussion, and knowing .5 only shot the1 bird we day, we ended our day knowing some or all of our individual limits had been exceeded and none our us know the party bag limit under this exact scenario. (This has never happened to any of us before, as typically everyone is walking and actively hunting). Besides the guilt of knowing we were clearly our individual daily bag limit, it turned out to be a great start to the season!
Hopefully others had great days also! There are lots of birds this year.
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